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Food Chains KS1

This Food Chains KS1 ready-to-teach lesson will show your class how living things are linked through food chains. During the lesson, children will find out that some animals are herbivores, carnivores and omnivores, as well as how plants are at the start of any food chain as the producer. When they come to do their independent work, they can then draw on what they learnt during the teaching input to create some food chains of their own!

 

This food chains KS1 Science lesson includes:

  • a detailed lesson plan with differentiated activities
  • a slideshow for the teaching input
  • a range of printable resources for independent learning activities

This lesson is part of our KS1 Living in Habitats scheme of work for Year 2.

Food Chains KS1 Lesson Pack

£2.99

Scroll through the pictures for a preview of the lesson's resources:

Food Chains KS1 slideshow example 1
Food Chains KS1 slideshow example 2
Food Chains KS1 slideshow example 3
Food Chains KS1 slideshow example 4
Food Chains KS1 slideshow example 5
Food Chains KS1 slideshow example 6
Food Chains KS1 worksheet example 1
Food Chains KS1 worksheet example 2
Food Chains KS1 lesson plan example 1
Food chain illustration

Food Chains

What are food chains?

A food chain shows us how living things depend on each other as sources of food.

There are lots of different food chains. A plant or animal can be part of more than one food chain.

Plants often appear in food chains as they are a food source for lots of different animals.

Plants use sunlight to make their own food. This creates energy for them to grow, reproduce and survive. Plants are called producers.

Herbivores, carnivores and omnivores

Different animals have different diets.

An animal that only eats plants is known as a herbivore. Cows, sheep, goats and horses are all herbivores.

An animal that only eats meat from other animals is known as a carnivore. Polar bears, lions, hyenas and eagles are all carnivores.

An animal that eats both plants and meat is known as an omnivore. Foxes, hedgehogs, badgers and humans are omnivores.  

Examples of food chains

When drawing a food chain, the arrow shows how the energy is being passed along the chain. For example, the arrow pointing from some berries to a mouse means the berries gives energy to the mouse when eaten. In turn, the arrow pointing from the mouse to the owl means that the mouse gives energy to the owl when eaten.

Food chain including berries, a mouse, an owl
Food chain including grass, a snail, a bird
Food chain including seaweed, a shrimp, an octopus

 

When should children learn about food chains?

According to the National Curriculum Science objectives, children start to learn about food chains in KS1. It is assigned as compulsory learning in Year 2 under the 'Living things and their habitats' strand of learning.

In Year 2, children should learn to:

  • describe how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals, using the idea of a simple food chain, and identify and name different sources of food.